Danakali Ltd and its joint venture partner, the Eritrean National Mining Corp have appointed Tony Harrington as Project Manager for the construction phase of the worldclass Colluli potash project with immediate effect. He has over 37 years’ experience in the mining industry delivering EPC, lump sum and EPCM projects in the capacity of both client representative and service provider over a diverse range of commodities, with a wide range of mineral processing units, across multiple jurisdictions including East Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, China, Continental Europe, UK and Australia.
Danakali completed a DFS (announced 30 November 2015) which demonstrates a project with a massive 1,100 Mt ore reserve, the company reports, and “industry leading capital intensity, bottom quartile operating costs and unrivalled product diversification potential.”
The company announced on 1 February 2017 that the permitting processes have been completed. Danakali continues the advancement of the project to construction and production.
The Colluli deposit is located in the Danakil region of Eritrea and is some 177km southeast of the capital (350 km by road), Asmara and 180 km from the port of Massawa (230 km by road), which is Eritrea’s key import/export facility.
The project is a joint venture between ENAMCO and Danakali with each having 50% ownership of the joint venture company, the Colluli Mining Share Co (CMSC). CMSC is responsible for the development of the project.
The Danakil region is an emerging potash province and one of the largest unexploited potash basins globally – geologists in the picture are on site. To date, over 6,000 Mt of potassium bearing salts suitable for the production of potash fertilisers have been identified in the region and the potash potential has attracted a number of major international potash producers, including both Yara International and ICL.
The Colluli resource is located approximately 75 km from the Red Sea coast, and mineralisation commences at just 16 m below surface, making it one of the most accessible potash deposits globally. Shallow mineralisation makes the resource amenable to open-pit mining.
The Colluli resource comprises three potassium bearing salts in solid form: sylvinite, carnallitite and kainitite. These salts are suitable for high yield, low energy production of SOP, which is a high quality potash fertiliser carrying a price premium over the more common MOP. Potassium sulphate has limited production centres around the world and is suitable for application to fruits, vegetables, coffee plants and other chloride intolerant crops.
The salt composition in the Danakil region also provides the ability to produce a suite of potash products that not only includes potassium sulphate, but also potassium magnesium sulphate and potassium chloride. Such potash product diversification cannot be achieved by any other region in the world.
The DFS utilises a modular development approach which mitigates risk while enhancing fundability and economic return. Phase I is expected to produce approximately 425,000 t/y of premium SOP product with commissioning currently targeted for Q4 2018. Phase II, commencing production in year 6, will increase total SOP production to 850,000 t/y.